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Iowa Gas Show sale offers 500 lots of petroliana Aug. 6

This RPM Motor Oil "A Real Knockout For Winter" single-sided tin sign with Donald Duck graphic is one of the many stunning pieces of advertising waiting for attendees of the petroliana auction scheduled for the last day of the Iowa Gas Show, Aug. 6. Photos courtesy Matthews Auction

DES MOINES, Iowa – More than 500 lots of petroliana items – mostly gas and oil signs but to include globes, cans and a great collection of rest room signs – will be sold by Matthews Auctions, LLC, on Friday, Aug. 6, at 9 a.m. (CST). The auction will be conducted at the Airport Holiday Inn in Des Moines, on the final day of the 2010 Iowa Gas Show, held at the same venue.

“The Iowa Gas Show is a hugely popular annual event, and it’s our good fortune to be able to cap the festivities with an auction of this high caliber,” said Dan Matthews of Matthews Auctions, LLC. “We’ve got a lot of rare items in this sale, a wide variety of fresh to the market petroliana collectibles. There will be something for just about everybody. Plan to spend the day.”

Headlining the sale will be three major collections, consigned by Ray and Mary Sue Seider of California, the late Ace Feeks of Oregon and Ron Ueberhein of Lincoln, Neb. Other consignments will also be featured. Online bidding will be facilitated by LiveAuctioneers.com and Proxibid. “We’ll need two Internet platforms to keep up with the action,” Matthews said.

Several Mobil signs will be offered, to include a Mobil Marine double-sided porcelain sign with Pegasus graphic, 30 inches, with original base, rated 9+ out of 10 for condition; a Mobil Pegasus cookie-cutter single-sided porcelain sign, dated 1954, the 4-piece version (8.75); and a Mobil Pegasus single-sided porcelain die-cut sign with great color and gloss (9.75).

Gas signs will be offered up in abundance. Highlights include a rare Bulko porcelain sign with elephant graphic and white background, 12 inches by 12 inches (rated 9+); an Associated Gasoline “More Miles to the Gallon” single-sided porcelain sign with pitcher graphic (8.9); and a Washington Chief Gasoline double-sided porcelain sign with full headdress Indian profile (8.9).

Other gas signs of note include an early Conoco double-sided porcelain sign with ethyl logo, 26 inches, with great color and gloss (rated 7.9); another Conoco double-sided porcelain sign, this one with the Minuteman logo, 26 inches, also with great color and gloss (8.4); and a Red Hat Motor Oil Gasoline double-sided porcelain sign with logos, 32 inches, rated 8 and 7.5.

Other signs expected to pique bidder interest include a Super Chevrolet double-sided porcelain die-cut sign marked Walker & Co., 42 inches by 48 inches (rated 8.9 front, 8+ back); and a Veltex Company Fletcher Oil single-sided porcelain truck door sign, 18 inches (9). Also sold will be an Indian Motorcycle by Valvoline one-gallon flat metal can with great graphic (7.5).

Petroliana thermometers will feature a Champion Spark Plugs “Dependable in All Weather” tin thermometer (user spins the wheel to tell what needs to be done to his car); and a rare Ace High & Wil-Flo Motor Oil porcelain thermometer, 38 inches by 8 inches (8.75). Also offered will be a Sunoco double-sided porcelain rest room sign with man and lady logos (8.5).

A pair of Hood Tire Man single-sided tin signs, both 36 inches by 12 inches, are expected to get paddles waving. One is a dealer sign with a straight tie graphic, rated 9; the other features a bow-tie graphic and is rated 8.9, with great color and shine. A top lot in the gas globes group is a Midway New Navy Gasoline 15-inch perforated globe with metal lenses in a metal body (7.5).

Other globes worthy of mention include a super rare Veltex Motor Oils Gasoline 15-inch globe with single lens in a metal body, 19.5 inches by 17.5 inches, rated 8+; a Clipper 15-inch single-lens globe with airplane graphic in a metal repainted body (9); and a Little Bear Gasoline gill single-lens globe in a gill glass body, with the lens rated a high 9+ and the body a solid 9.

A Mule Battery “It Has Kick” double-sided tin sign with a great graphic in the original wooden frame (24 inches by 24 inches) is rated 8.25 on the front, 7 on the reverse. Other signs include a Snowboy “Picked For Flavor” single-sided porcelain sign, 20 inches, rated 9; and a BP single-sided porcelain sign with a graphic of early cars and planes, 24 inches by 40 inches (7.9).

Rounding out the day’s expected top lots: a Richfield and State of New York “Don’t Pass on Hills” cloth poster, 42 inches by 28 inches, rated 8.5; a Red Rooster Fruit & Produce single-sided porcelain sign with great graphic and super gloss and color (8.9); and an Arden Protected Milk porcelain die-cut flange sign with a wonderful bottle and boy graphic, both sides rated 9.

Matthews Auctions, LLC’s next big auction after this one will be held on Saturday, Sept. 25, at 10 a.m. (CST), at 13002 Kentucky Road in Independence, Mo. Sold will be the single-owner lifetime collection of Mr. Paul Wilson. Offered will be hundreds of lots of petroliana (neon, porcelain and metal signs, globes, gas pumps and more); automobilia (a Sprint car, several Ford flat head V-8 engines); vintage toys (to include several race car-style toys); and much more.

Matthews Auctions, LLC, is based in Nokomis, Ill. The firm is always accepting quality consignments for future sales. To consign a single item, an estate or a collection, call them at 217-563-8880, or e-mail Dan Matthews at danm@matthewsauctions.com.